Recent HCG Diet Research

PubMed, the medical database at the National Institutes of Health, lists an all-time total of 20,489 research articles on hCG as of May, 2013. Only 93 of these pop up when searching the database for 'hcg' and 'weight loss' together. Over the past 10 years, the numbers are 5,341 and 33, respectively. Of those 33, none are actual studies of the hCG diet itself. This is clearly not a high priority in the research community.

Nevertheless, one recent study stands out, and does not even get listed in the above search on hCG and weight loss. The reason is because it focuses on the changes in certain cardiovascular risk factors that accompany weight loss. The hCG diet just happened to be the protocol used for achieving weight loss. The full reference data for this study are as follows:

The scheduled program was as follows: patients took B12, supplements, and hCG for two days prior to starting a 36-day very low calorie diet. This program was followed by 35 days wherein calorie consumption was slowly increased. Sugar and starch intake were restricted during this period. The hCG treatment was then stopped.

The greatest weight loss by any subject was about 37.8 lbs and the least was 5.5 lbs. The authors did not explain this wide discrepancy except to say that the greatest losses happened in those who started out the heaviest.

Moreover, the average decrease in body fat was 12.4 percent. This was accompanied by an average mean decrease of 5.7 percent lean body mass. In other words, the amount of fat loss was more than double the amount lost in lean body mass. This result confirms what Dr. Simeons had already shown more than a half century ago.

The main results of blood tests for accepted indicators of cardiovascular risk showed statistically significant improvements in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol, and the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol. In addition, improvement also occurred in levels of fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, and VLDL cholesterol. The only measure that did not change was HDL cholesterol.

What about those circulating CD34-positive cells? Scientists continually search for new indicators of cardiovascular health besides blood lipids. A relatively new indicator is the production of a cell type that negatively correlates with vascular tissue damage. Damage to cells that help replace such tissue correlates with obesity. As the numbers of such cells decrease, damage increases. A rise in a cell type called CD34-positive cells is thought to be an indicator of improvement of vascular health.

Changes in CD34-positive cells are best summarized as a correlation with changes in percent body fat. This study found a strong positive correlation between an increase in this cell type and the percent change (i.e., amount reduced) in body fat. This is the result that we want to see. It means that more cells promoting vascular health are produced as body fat gets reduced.

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Katie Grace

I’m Katie Grace, On FITBODYUSA, you’ll find lots of delicious recipes, healthy living fitness, and weight loss tips. Join in on the fun as we inspire each other to live the healthiest, BEST life possible!